The city of Victoria, located on Vancouver Island, is the capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Victoria is a charming city where we stay a couple of days – primarily to visit the beautiful Butchart Gardens.
The Sea to Sky Highway is a wonderfully scenic drive along the coast between Vancouver and Whistler. While the non-stop drive only takes about 1.5 to 2 hours, leave plenty of time to make stops along the way for beautiful walks, a gondola ride and lots of photography opportunities.
We arrived in Vancouver having taken a 7-day cruise through the Inside Passage. With just one day in Vancouver we got an early start, as there was much to do!
We rented a car from Hertz, located in the car park under the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel – a few minutes walk from the cruise terminal.
A quick stop at the nearby Tourism Vancouver Visitor Centre gave us some invaluable tips on how to spend our day.
Banff
On a trip to the US in December 2009/January 2010 we decided to include a visit to Canada. First stop was one day in Vancouver and then four days in the Banff and Lake Louise area.
Some of our party were keen to ski so Banff was a good place to make our base. After a couple of weeks on the road, we were looking forward to five nights in the one place, the chance to rent self-catering accommodation and enjoy some home-cooked meals.